Sony Corp. plans to reduce its work force by an estimated 10,000 jobs, or roughly 6% of its global total, as part of a broader restructuring plan by Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai, people familiar with the matter said Monday.

The cuts could be made over the next two fiscal years, ending in March 2014, though the timing hasn't been settled, the people said. The potential cuts were the first details to emerge of Mr. Hirai's restructuring plan since he succeeded Howard Stringer as CEO this month. The plan is expected to be announced at a corporate strategy meeting on Thursday.

Mr. Hirai is focusing on turning around an electronics business that has had four straight years of losses.

Confirming reports from earlier in the week, Sony has announced plans to sell off its VAIO computer division to a Japanese investment fund.

Sony has reversed its prediction of a full-year profit, now expecting to make a net loss of ¥110 billion ($1.1 billion) in the year ending March 2014. It's the second quarter in a row that Sony has cut its guidance; the company slashed expectations to ¥30 billion from ¥50 billion in October. Sony hasn't changed its revenue forecast, however — the swing to loss is down to depreciation and amortization along with restructuring costs incurred by selling off the VAIO PC business and spinning off TVs into a separate unit. Operating income for Q3 was ¥90 billion yen ($860 million) and net profit was ¥27 billion ($257 million) off sales of ¥2.41 trillion ($23 billion).

Sony has announced that it will make 5,000 layoffs by the end of the next financial year,